Wal-Mart deal avoids prosecution

The store agreed a deal with prosecutors to pay out almost US$2 million and to improve security.

In return, prosecutors said they would not file criminal charges over the tragedy at the store in Long Island, New York, during the Thanksgiving Day holiday sales on 28 November.

A 34-year-old man was killed in the rush of shoppers and about 11 others were injured.

Kathleen Rice, prosecutor in Long Island, described the settlement as "historic".

Wal-Mart is required to improve crowd management at its 92 New York stores, set up a $400,000 fund for victims, donate $1.5 million to the community and give 50 jobs annually to local teens.

There was no admission of guilt by Wal-Mart in the agreement.

"No prosecution could have achieved what we have been able to do with this agreement," Rice said.

"Rather than bringing the world's largest retailer to court and imposing a small fine against them, I felt it was important to require significant safety changes that will affect the whole state."

Hank Mullany, head of Wal-Mart in the northeast United States said: "We don't want it to happen again.

"We are committed to learning from it and making our stores even safer for our customers and our associates. Today is an important step."

Source: AFP

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